Fans for Jayco Dometic fridge

G'Day ss--ss,

I have a Jayco Eagle with similar vents as you describe & am looking to do the same mod also.

I reckon 12v dc fans would be the way to go as this supply is always avail whether you are connected to mains or running on your battery system. (assuming you have one)
Also keepng in mind heat rises maybe the fans at the top external vent blowing out would be good. This would allow the colder air to enter via the lower external vent & pass the rear fridge element & go out through the top vent. This would probably also stop the hot air we feel coming up through the bench top vent.
So in my opinion your ideas are spot on...... Guess we'll just wait now & see if anyone has any better ideas.
I keep an eye on this one... Hey!

PMK

Hi Guys,
To help stop the heat coming up through the top vent in the bench top, I've use one of these. T piece

As well as this to funnel the heat to the outside, Dometic Aluminium flue tube
These guys use to sell an external cowling to help with weather proofing, but I can't find it atm.
Then I was able to replace the vent in the bench top with a flat piece of colourbond to suit.
I'll next installed a 12v fan near the top vent facing outwards that will draw any of the heat from the tubing at the back out through that vent.

Hope that helps guys.

G/day SS, I have 2 thermo frig fans from Caravans Plus,they cut in at 80f approx,I've put one on the floor behind the frig pushing up and one on the inside of the top vent sucking out[reverse the red and black wires].I took the power from the 12v circuit at the back of the frig,they both come on together and make a nice air flow,don't put the bottom one too near the gas pilot light.I have also narrowed the space from the back of the frig to the van wall with styro foam sheet,[fiddley job] to decrease the the flue,the smaller venturi mores the air faster over the coils. Regards Keith C

Hi, ss--ss, I have a Jayco Eagle and I fitted a 6" fan on the inside the top vent , it sucks the hot air out etc. the ones fitted to the bottom vent drawing air in tends to blow the hot air out of any gaps into the van making that hotter, mine is a 240v one as I usually stay in parks for longer periods, I only have to use it when the wind is from the door side , makes a fair difference to the fridge operation,
With mine I just plug it in ,in the cupboard when I need it.
They are about $20 to $30 at Dick Smiths.
Cheers Des.

I have a rm360 that wasn't working (very old) took it out and rolled it around which got it going but would only get down to about 10 deg in the freezer.

I made a flue out of and old aluminium pole.
sealed around the top and sides of the fridge to keep the heat out.
put some fibro between the chimney and the back of the fridge.
added two 12 volt computer fans under the top element blowing up
(the two fans draw about 200mA and made a big difference)
removed the freezer door.
Don't forget to make sure it is level.

now it gets much colder,
with 2 adults and 3 kids I mainly use it for drinks, I move them from the fridge to the freezer section as I take them out and the beer is icy cold, usually covered in frost and ice but not frozen.

mmmmm Think I'll have one now.....

Thanks for all the suggestions.. I will start with one fan behind the top grill & see how it goes.

Hi SS--SS

suggest you have a read of fridge venting

You need to address all of the following and your fridge will be 'cool man' ;))

1. Upgrade cable size due to voltage loss at fridge. See link 2 and also link 3 for info on cable size etc.

2. reduce the gap behind the back of the fridge. If you look at the first link i gave you will find that your fridge is the one in the diagram at the very bottom right of the page (but yours also has a vent on top of the benchtop). The reason they put a vent where they did that was because the canvas walls prevented the manufacturer from having the installation as in bottom left diagram. The important thing to note is that the vent should actually be above the top of the fridge. With a camper this is impossible when the fridge top is also the top of the solid van wall. You could create the fridge in the bottom left of the page but you would either be cutting your canvas wall to fit a vent or directing heat inside which is not good in summer. (handy in winter though)

You could do what i did. I installed baffles to reduce the gap behind fridge and direct the airflow where it should be. Remove the grilles on outside of the van wall and have a look inside. You will be able to fit your hands in and up/down as needed and glue these baffles in place. You can use timber or even aluminium angle cut to length for the baffles. Best would be a solid full height baffle but its hard to do.

While you are looking inside at the back of the fridge have a look at all the gaps around the outside edge of the fridge and the top. You need to seal these. Easy to do. I just cut aluminium angle to length and glued in place over the gaps. (I used selleys all fix in a gold tube. it grabs straight away and holds most things) You could use timber etc too.

You will notice that the hole that you have for the top wall vent means you have no chance of getting the airflow higher than the fridge top. I reduced the height of the opening on mine by closing off the bottom 'half' with more aluminium angle screwed to the top of the wall framing, that way you are directing the air up as high as possible in a camper construction.

You have the top bench vent and if it was me I would close it off and direct all heat out the now narrower top wall vent, with the aid of a couple fans blowing hot air out.

3. install fans behind top wall vent to blow hot air out. If you close of the bottom half of the top wall vent you can install the fans on that.

I found that my fridge works much better simply by doing 2 and 3 above. I still have to do 1 above (fix my cable size for 12V) and then things should be sweet on both 12V and 240V. On 240V i have no problems at all.

One last thing i read somewhere once that is helpful if you can do it. Replace all yourshelves in the fridge with shelves made of aluminium sheeting. Have a look at what happens to aluminium whenits in a cool environment. The shelves 'attract' cold and hold it in the shelf and make the whole inside work even better. I also know of a person that put a small fan inside his fridge at the bottom and it blew the air around inside his fridge. He claimed his fridge was much cooler by doing this as it blew the air flow past the freezer section and around inside something like a smal air flow current i guess.

I would suggest you read the attached articles a few times until you are sure you completey understand it all. Its best if you have the vents out of the van wall so you can see exactly what you have in your camper and exactly what you need to do.

Good luck....

As an easy assist I fitted a computer fan to the top vent and ran it off a small solar panel. No regulator. You would be surprised how much air it moves.